Analysis of Arsenal’s transfer activity this summer and awards for the month of August

Arsene Wenger endured one of his worst tenures as an Arsenal manager last season. He was knocked out of the Champions League at the first knockout hurdle in the hands of Barcelona. Some fingers were pointed to the official for the day, Massimo Busacca for van Persie’s soft red card but Arsenal played quite poorly and couldn’t even make a single attempt on target.

Arsenal also lost out of the FA Cup in the quarterfinals after disappointing qualifying campaigns to get there. Fabregas spared Arsenal’s blushes when Leeds visited the Emirates in the 3rd round but Arsenal played a lot better in the replay at Elland Road. Arsenal also struggled a bit when Huddersfield Town visited the Emirates but they had enough in the gas to see them.

A disappointing 1-1 draw against Leyton Orient followed but the lower league outfit was outclassed when they came to the Emirates for the replay. Manchester United stood between Arsenal and a semifinal berth but Sir Alex Ferguson’s men defeated Arsenal despite starting with seven recognized defenders.

Arsenal had their best run in the Carling Cup but lost to Birmingham City in the final hurdle after a mix-up between Laurent Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny. Arsenal’s road to the final at Wembley saw them defeat Tottenham, Newcastle, Wigan and Ipswich.

Arsenal also had a very disappointing campaign in the Premier League and ended up in 4th place despite locking horns with Manchester United for a considerable chunk of the season.

Arsene Wenger, the Board and the fans had a series of reasons why Arsenal struggled. Injuries to key players at critical times took its toll on Arsenal’s games as well as the low mentality of the squad but one of the key reasons why Arsenal struggled last season was due to lack of quality in some certain positions in the squad.

Arsene Wenger was quick to acknowledgement that his lack of transfer activity played a role and he promised that he was going to address the issue. From the start of June till today being the last day for any transfer activity, so many deals have been made and players have moved in and out of Arsenal.

Here’s my take of the analysis of Arsenal’s transfer activity this summer with an in-depth look on arrivals and departures.

While reading on, please feel free to vote on the polls I’ve created for the Gunners because your votes will be used in the season preview I’ll write at the end of the season. It will be similar to the 2010/11 Gooner Daily awards I wrote at the end of last season.

Please, voting ends in a week.

DEPARTURES

Gael Clichy (sold to Manchester City:£7m)

Gael Clichy came into Arsenal as Ashley Cole’s deputy in 2003 but got his big break when Cole left the club three years later. Clichy started his career as Arsenal’s number one left back in grand style and maintained a consistency that won win a place in the PFA Team of the Year in 2008 but his form waned and injuries became quite synonymous with the player.

At the start of the summer, Clichy was handed a contract to extend his stay at Arsenal but he chose not to sign it so it wasn’t surprising when he was sold to Manchester City after his proposed Liverpool move was broken down.

On the financial side, Arsenal bought him for £250,000 from AS Cannes and sold him for £7m after using him for the best part of eight years.

Transfer Rating: 8/10

Denilson Perreira Neves (loaned out to Sao Paulo)

This lad arrived at Arsenal in 2006 as the next best thing but he couldn’t stand up and be counted when he was needed instead he chose to raise the white flag and has been sent across the Atlantic to play for his previous employers.

Denilson was ever-present in the 2008/09 campaign and averaged over 50 games for Arsenal that season but Wilshere’s emergence limited his chances last season. Instead of stepping his game up any time he was on the pitch, he became more disappointing leaving Wenger with no choice.

He probably feels at home in Brazil so I doubt if he’ll ever wear the Red and White again. Besides, his shirt has been taken by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Jay is a tall bloke was used in several positions on the field of play but he was willing to give his all but he featured sparingly for the club.

However, a move to Ipswich will give the chap a chance to play football week in week out to develop his skills as well as to gain match experience.

Transfer Rating: 10/10

Emmanuel Eboue (sold to Galatasaray:£3.5m)

African cult hero and Arsenal’s favorite farmer, Emmanuel Eboue was the player that literally ended Lauren’s career in Arsenal. In the 2006/07 season, he produced consistent displays for the club but Wenger made a mistake by promoting him to become a winger in the 2007/08 instead of purchasing one to support Aliaksandr Hleb.

With the emergence of Theo Walcott, Eboue was deployed back as a right back for games Sagna needed to rest for but he lost his defensive bearings and was exposed countless times.

A move to Galataasaray is like a breath of fresh air for the Ivorian but times will come this season when we need that ‘dive’ for a free kick or that surge of energy down the right.

Armand Traore has been at the fringes at Arsenal for a very long while and it was glaring for all to see that he wasn’t ready to make the step up to challenge for a first team place.

He was sent on loan to Portsmouth, Juventus and Benfica to gain match fitness and experience but it was not enough. A move to Queens Park Rangers would mean that there’ll be space for other players to be registered because the Premier League’s 25-man squad list still stands.

Transfer Rating: 8/10

Carlos Vela (loaned out to Real Sociedad)

This Mexican has definitely been on Wenger’s good books and the manager believes that Carlos Vela has the potential to lead the line in the foreseeable future but he’s not ready to challenge for a place in the team.

Vela has been sent on loan to a series of club’s and the move to a club like Real Sociedad would mean that Vela might be guaranteed of a place on the team week in week out.

Samir Nasri played for three seasons at Arsenal but produced his best performances last season. He had a year left on his deal so Arsenal was left with two possible options; awarding him with a new contract or selling him to another team.

The club offered him a contract but he chose not to sign it and after a long summer of speculation, he made a £25m move to Manchester City.

For a player that had a year left on his deal, £25m was an astronomical price.

Transfer Rating: 10/10

Francesc Fabregas (sold to Barcelona:£40m {subject to clauses})

Arsenal had just three months to hold onto its prized asset from the clutches of Barcelona but Wenger didn’t do enough to hold the fort. Fabregas also wanted to leave the club to Barcelona but Wenger should have convinced him by showing his ambition to buy players that Juan Mata amongst others.

It was so bad that it got to the level were Fabregas had to play a major role in his move to Barcelona because Barcelona could not afford to pay for the entire deal.

I regard Fabregas’ transfer to Barcelona as a major disappointment because of the way it was handled. Barcelona disrespected the club times without number and they didn’t even have the funds for a player that had five years left on his deal.

With Fabregas gone, Arsenal has clearly struggled in midfield but some signings might be made today to fill the void.

Sagna has been a devoted servant to Arsenal since his arrival in 2007 and he has done extremely well to maintain his consistency and fitness but with every season offering each club an average of over 60 games, Wenger had to get a player to provide adequate back up for the French man but the manager reverted to youth.

Jenkinson is an inexperienced bloke that still has a lot to learn and he hasn’t done too badly in the games he played so far.

Transfer Rating: 4/10

Gervinho (bought from Lille:£11m)

Gervinho arrived in North London on the end of a fresh League and Cup double win with LOSC Lille Metropole and eager to prove himself in the world stage. Gervinho’s debut at Arsenal was marred by the red card he received after a bust up with the volatile Joey Barton but he was in inspirational form in both legs against Udinese.

He’s definitely going to be a massive hit at Arsenal and he has done enough to show everyone that he’ll definitely be selected above Arshavin as the season progresses.

Arsene Wenger is a manager that has been renowned for his French influx of players as well as his immeasurable faith in youth.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (or the Chambered Ox as I prefer calling) is a young prospect that wowed the Southampton fans with his style of play that involved his injection of high pace. Wenger has been a long time admirer of the player so it was no surprise when he made his move for him.

In my opinion, £12m is too much for a relatively untested winger but Wenger knows best.

Transfer Rating: 5/10

Ryo Miyaichi (bought after successful trial)

Ryodinho was very impressive in his trial last season so he was handed a contract by Arsenal but he couldn’t play because o f work permit issues so he was loaned out to Feyernoord.

This summer Arsenal applied for a work permit for the chap and it was granted through the ‘exceptional talent’clause. Miyaichi was very impressive in preseason but he hasn’t made his Arsenal debut yet but I’m sure that he’ll be used as Arsenal’s ace from the bench this season.

Clichy’s departure to Manchester City sent a clear to Wenger that a new left back was needed but the boss decided to stick with Kieran Gibbs and Armand Traore. Gibbs played in Arsenal’s opening game against Newcastle and got injured.

This forced Wenger to play Sagna out of position for the games against Liverpool and Udinese. After witnessing Arsenal’s horror outing against Manchester United, Wenger delved into the transfer market to get players and Andre Santos was one of those acquisitions.

Signing Andre Santos is a good move for Arsenal because he’s an experienced individual and a very decent left back.

Transfer Rating: 7/10

Per Mertesacker (bought from Werder Bremen:£7m)

Per Mertesacker has been under Arsenal’s radar for ages and Wenger has finally found the partner for Thomas Vermaelen that the fans needed. Gary Cahill was everyone’s favorite to make the move but Bolton’s overhyped price for the player made the move impossible.

Mertesacker’s height will be a major plus for Arsenal, attacking wise and defensively because he’ll be an effective target during set pieces.

Besides, the Arsenal fans have been craving for a defensive signing and it seems as if Per is the man.

The captain of Korea Republic was already having a medical with LOSC Lille Metropole before flying to London for another medical with Arsenal and he has already been unveiled as an Arsenal player to wear the fabled No. 9 jersey.

A jersey that had been worn by Sukor, Jeffers, Reyes, Baptista and Eduardo; these players turned out to have “issues”. Park didn’t really have an excellent goal scoring record in Monaco (26 goals in 91 matches) but he’ll provide competition for Chamakh.

Transfer Rating: 6/10

Yossi Benayoun (loaned from Chelsea)

Benayoun featured sparingly for Chelsea last season but injury also took its toll on the Isreali international.

It had been reported that Benayoun would be included in an offer from the Blues for Spurs playmaker Luka Modric and Newcastle have also been linked with the Israel captain, but Arsenal emerged as the frontrunners for his signature and completed the deal before the transfer deadline.

Benayoun has announced his arrival to Arsenal on Twitter and will definitely be a good signing for the club. If he does well enough, Wenger might make the deal permanent.

Mikel Arteta started out as a trainee with FC Barcelona in 1999 but could not break his way into the first team and was eventually loaned to Paris Saint-Germain in the French league for two seasons.

He was then signed by Scottish Premier League giants Rangers with whom he would win the domestic treble of the league, Scottish Cup and League Cup in the season of 2002–03.

After success in Scotland moved to back to Spain to play for Real Sociedad but failed to establish himself within the first team and was loaned to Everton for the remainder of the 2004–05 season. He would then sign a permanent transfer.

In Everton, Arteta became a household name and amassed 161 appearances and 27 league goals in six years at the club.

He recently joined Arsenal in a late transfer deadline deal

Transfer Rating: 8/10

It has been a grueling three months this summer and I’m glad to write that we can focus solely on football.

With the players that have gone and the players that have replaced them, Arsenal is definitely ready to put up a title challenge but one tends to wonder why Wenger waited this long before making all this moves happen.

Very good signings, very late in the day but Wenger has made more signings than most Supporters would ever believe. Supporters will still not be happy, and will moan about all the players that we havn’t brought, Arsenal supporters don’t realise just how lucky they are to have Wenger, they have been used to playing in all the top competitions as if its their right. Well i’m sorry its not, Hard work by the Arsenal manager and his team will once again make us competetive, if we can shake the football authorities off our back, and not have anymore suspensions, we may well win the league, Wenger has been watching all these new signings for a long time , he has left it as late as posible to aquire their services for as little as possible, doing just what a good manager does, sell high and buy low, that is why we are in good hands and will be for the forseeable future.

You got it right Steve.True Arsenal fans should be glad we’ve got several new signings in the areas we’d been grieving about for so long.Instead of building up faith in our new and obviously stronger team,some fans cannot believe we stand a chance of winning any league.There are still over 30 games remaining and remember our first 3 fixtures were against strong teams and no other giant has yet clashed 3 times with its arch-rivals.I have a lot of respect for Prof.Arsene for his solid faith in his team even in its lowest and embarrassing moments,had he not maintained sobriety when it seemed the hardest thing to achieve,Arsenal would not be what it is today,it would’nt have nurtured so many players from raw talent to world class football stars.Thumbs up Wenger and long live Arsenal as we take titles,league cups and awards to Emirates!!

I agree with you that Wenger as a coach is untouchable, but I only partly agree with your assessment of his transfer policy. I agree with your statement about the transfer deadline signings, but the defensive inadequacies should have been remedied much earlier. What changed for Wenger between his statements last season and his sudden change of heart at the start of this transfer window? It is my belief that Arsenal needs a good Director of Football who can work within Wenger’s general transfer strategy but also point out the flaws in his reasoning.
I also don’t think Arsenal can challenge for the title. The Arsenal first team is up to scratch, but the squad just doesn’t have the depth to sustain a serious title challenge. The difference between the Arsenal and Man Utd squad clearly shows this deficiency. The Man Utd team was missing three first string defenders but still had premier league quality replacements on every position, and what about the depth of their front line. I’m sad to say that Arsenal just won’t be able to compete.
And finally I also think that putting the blame for the dismissals on the football authorities is a baseless accusation. In my opinion it has everything to do with the lack of experience in the squad. The idiotic second bookable offence by Frimpong is a case in point, and even at his age he should have known better.
So in the long run the league title will probably be beyond our grasp, but we can definitely challenge for the last Champions League spot. And off course you never know in the Cup, so don’t let my negative rhetoric get you down to much.

These reinforcements will prove to be very good for the team. However, do not let your expectations get out of control again.We still need to improve the teams creativity in the midfield and add one more world class striker if we are to even THINK we can challenge for a top 3 spot in the league. In honesty, all that we can hope for with our improved team is a chance to grab the number 4 spot so we have a chance at the Challenge Cup next season…

Arteta really saved the transfer window for me would have been disappointed.if we only bought benayoun as a nasri cesc replacement. arteta and wilshere pulling the strings in midfield sounds f****** awesome to me

What u people want? U all seem to amaze me! U want new signings, he’s done it giv him a chance to play football please! Personally, i’ll not lik to see rosisky go back to bench. I tink he’s better than any other in d squad right now! He’s been workin very hard in games. We’ve all seen his tackles and midfield control so far dis season. It’ll be quite discouraging. IN ARSENE WE TRUST!

Wenger is a foolish man. If he had signed maybe two matured players last season, Arsenal would ‘ve won something & Fabregas, Nasri would ‘ve stayed. Did he expect me to be dancing becouse he swallowed his vampire’s pride & signed some couple of players. Wenger should swim to the bottom of the ocean.

I really think that Arsenal’s problem in the last few seasons has been in the defence. We haven’t done badly in the midfield except each time we play against Barcelona, and every time has that problem with Barca. Benayoun, Arteta are creative and when schooled in the Arsenal way, Arsenal definitely is a solid.

The new defenders brought should adequately augment for the weaknesses of seasons past. Arsenal is definitely back in the thick of things. We cannot easily be pushed out of the league title chase anymore.

I don’t understand why people are so pessimistic. Last year our problem was leaking too many goals, from set plays invariably, and inexperience. Scoring goals was a problem at home but not away as teams came to the emirates and sat of us. We didn’t have the pace to get in behind the high defensive line that teams had. So signing Gervinho to replace Nasri will help us improve. Mertesaker will also give us experience and help us be more effective at set plays, both defensively and offensively. Santos is a much better attacker than Clichy although not sure about his defensive abilities but song should be able to help cover him when needed. I think we all know relaxing Fabregas was impossible BUT last year when we were challenging for the title how many games did he play? Arteta will add bite and experience as well as padding ability which will bring out the best from players who like to get in behind, e.g. Walcott and getvinho. All we need now is to win a few games to get confidence up and we are back in business for a title push. All we need now is a world class striker because WHEN van Persie gets injured I’m not so sure about our replacements!

Yes its a vastly different looking squad now. Arteta, Benayoun Mertesacker and Sandros are all good players – but I reckon not good enough to give Citeh, Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool a run for their money. But, what the hell! Its too late to moan and groan anymore. Lets just hope that AW will see sense by January and either make the RIGHT buys or leave and let Murihinio take over. That said, lets just buckle down and enjoy another season of great football. Go Gooners GO!

If wenger had signed these players last year fabregas would have stayed?? You are either on lots of very strong medication or must be aged about 8, please try thinking about what your actually saying, you might then develop mentally.

Some people is talking utter rubbish.. Fabregas would have left either way.. and we sold him and got good cash to buy these new lott of players..

And for Nasri, he wanted a good salary.. so he would have left as well. Arsenal wud neva have paid him 160k/week.. so selling him for 25M was a genius move in my opinion.. specially when he only had 1 yr left…
I am a great fan of Nasri- but he aint no zidane so Nasri is easily replaceable.. In fact Gervinho is a great player and he can do the job for us..

This Arsenal team will play with some pace.. ryo, gervinho, walcott, chambrolene, santos are all quick players… very quick in fact.. and now we have some competition in the team for places..

I am really excited to see new look Arsenal.. this will be the yer for wilshere and ramsey and gibbs to prove if arsenal youth academy is any good!!!!

Dept? Smh. Has any of u noticed or is it only me that we have the worst medical team in premier league? As we are talkin about manager and players,lets no forget we have to change our entire medical staff. They WACK big time!

So, at last, arsenal’s transfer concluded with chamberlein being the top transfer worth 12 million.!!!
Its shame AW n the board to reject the top quality players like Hazard n m’vila because of money, even if we have enough funds. Board should be sacked for doing just business with transfer, and not the passion.We the fans must protest..

So, at last, arsenal’s transfer concluded with chamberlein being the top transfer worth 12 million.!!!
Its shame AW n the board to reject the top quality players like Hazard n m’vila because of money, even if we have enough funds. Board should be sacked for doing just business with transfer, and not the passion.We the fans must protest.

I’m really looking forward to seeing Park play in particular. Imo he could be anything from a decent backup to a genius signing. He is hard-working and has brilliant close control and passing ability, it just depends if he can combine that with goal-scoring. Either way, I think he is an improvement on Chamakh, who’s confidence just looks destroyed for some reason. I remember there was massive hype about Park when he was very young, due largely to his goalscoring ability, but it hasn’t quite worked out that way since moving to Europe. Wenger does have a habit of reviving careers or getting goals out of players like him.

My concern would be how long will take for these new players to adjust to Arsenal style of plying and to their new teammates. In my opinion these new transfer should have taken place much earlier, especially that everybody new that Fabregas, Nasri and the others will leave the club. But we are now where we are and should support Arsenal wholeheartedly and hope will fair better this season!

Good buy after all even though it was very late. i wonder if prof wenger would have bought players if we weren’t trashed by man united.. i say thanks to man u for making the arsenal stingy board see reasons to sign. This signings has increased great dept in our midfield. at least every one will start jostling for starting shirt especially somebody like arshavin and charmach..dats if they are willing to play this season. Good riddance of bentna